Syllabus: 
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Texts:		 English 250 (The Study of Literature I) 
Maner 
Fall 2001 
MWF, 1:00-1:50 
270 Allyn 
341 Allyn 
Wed. 2:00-5:00 and by appointment at other times 
martin.maner@wright.edu
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner
1) Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1999. 
2) Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: MLA, 1999. 
3) Meyer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 2000. 
You are also required to have a standard college-level handbook of grammar and usage such as The Harbrace College Handbook, The St. Martin's Handbook, or The Little, Brown Handbook.  (If you are not sure whether your handbook is appropriate, check with me.)
Date Topic Reading*
Wed
9/12		 The study of literature 
Class policies 
Ungraded diagnostic exam 
Complete the assigned readings and exercises before coming to class.  Page numbers beginning with "A" refer to the Abrams Glossary; page numbers beginning with "M" refer to the Meyer Bedford Introduction.		 *See comment under "Topic."
Fri
9/14		 Discussion of diagnostic 
Writing critical analysis 
Manuscript form
Problems and pitfalls 
Developing an argument

M 1540-47.
Mon
9/17		 What to say about a poem 
Qualities of a good thesis 
Last day to add classes or receive 100% refund of fees		 M 1-6; 
M 1523-40; 
M 531-62.
Wed
9/19		 Comments on poetry and its enjoyment 
A sample analysis 
Interpretation, features, and functions 
"The Fish" 
Ambiguity 		 M 563-69; 
 

M 542-44; 
A 10-11.
Fri
9/21		 Concrete and abstract 
Connotation and denotation 
Motif and theme 
Discuss Paper #1 assignment 
Distribute handout, "I Knew a Woman"		 A 43-44; 
A 46-47; 
A 169-70.
Mon
9/24		 Word choice, word order, and tone 
"The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" 
"To His Coy Mistress" 
"In a Station of the Metro"		 M 570-82; 
M 573; 
M 581-82; 
M 614.
Wed
9/26		 "I Knew a Woman" 
Images 		 Handout; 
M 600-05.
Thu
9/27		 Last day for 70% refund of fees  
Fri
9/28		 Persona, tone, and voice 
"Dover Beach" 
Poetic diction 
Quiz #1: in class		 A 217-19; 
M 605-06; 
A228-30.
Mon
10/1		 Peer evaluations 
Distribute "April Inventory" handout 
Group discussion of sample paper 
Paper #1 due: Response paper on Elizabeth Bishop's "The Fish"--500 words minimum--submitted in a folder with a floppy disk containing the paper as a Word document or "txt" file		 M 542-44.
Tue
10/2		 Last day to drop a class without a record of "W."  
Wed
10/3		 Figures of speech 
Antithesis 
Euphony and cacophony 
Figurative language 
Rhetorical figures 
"Mirror"		 M 617-34: 
A 11-12; 
A 83-84; 
A 96-100; 
A 270-75; 
M 628.
Fri
10/5		 "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" M 630-31.
Mon
10/8		 "April Inventory" 
Return graded papers		 Handout.
Wed
10/10		 Quiz #2: in class
Catch up on missed material		  
Fri
10/12		 Symbol, allegory, and irony 
Conceit 
Hyperbole and understatement 
Symbol 
Irony 
Paradox 
Pun 
Synesthesia		 M 635-61; 
A 42-43; 
A 120; 
A 311-14; 
A 134-38; 
A 201-02; 
A 253; 
A 315.
Mon
10/15		 Voices and Visions: Elizabeth Bishop Videotape to be shown in class
Tue
10/16		 Last day to drop a class with a record of "W."  
Wed
10/17		 Sounds
"God's Grandeur" 
From An Essay on Criticism		 M 662-86: 
M 673; 
M 681-82.
Fri
10/19		 Alliteration
Blank verse
Free verse
Heroic couplet
Meter
Onomatopoeia
Rhyme		 A 8-9: 
A 24-25: 
A 105-08: 
A 114-15; 
A 159-65: 
A 199-200: 
A 273-75.
Mon
10/22		 Quiz #3: in class  
Wed
10/24		 Patterns of rhythm 
"Still to Be Neat" 
"My Papa's Waltz" 
Distribute handout		 M 687-705; 
M 697: 
M 701-02.
Fri
10/26		 Paper #2 preliminary draft due: critical analysis of any assigned poem--1000 words minimum--submitted in a folder with a floppy disk containing the paper as a Word document or "txt" file
Peer evaluations		  
Mon
10/29		 Poetic forms--I (stanza, rhyme scheme, couplet, heroic couplet, tercet, triplet,quatrain, terza rima, ballad stanza, sonnet)
"Shall I compare thee . . . "
"My mistress' eyes . . . "
"Death Be Not Proud"
"When I Consider How My Light is Spent"
Conventions
Form and structure
Sonnet
Stanza
Return preliminary drafts with  critiques		 M 706-14; 
M 711-12; 
M 712: 
M 882; 
M 896-97; 
A 47-48; 
A 101-02; 
A 290-91; 
A 294-97.
Wed
10/31		 Poetic forms--I (villanelle, sestina, epigram, limerick, haiku, elegy, ode, picture poem, parody)
"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
"The Windhover"
"Dover Bitch"
Ballad
Elegy
Epigram
Haiku
Lyric
Ode
Refrain
Accentual verse; accentual verse; accentual-syllabic verse		 M 714-27; 
M 709-10; 
M 889-90; 
M 886-87; 
A 18-19; 
A 72-73;
A 79-80; 
A 113-14;
A 146-47; 
A 198-99; 
A 263.
Fri
11/2		 Quiz #4: in class
Quoting and paraphrasing--I 
Deadline for optiional preliminary draft of Paper #3.		  
Mon
11/5		 Quoting and paraphrasing--II 
Parenthetical documentation 
Return of ptional preliminary drafts of paper #3 with critiques 		  
Wed
11/7		 Basics of critical theory 
"Ars Poetica" 		 M 1483-505; 
handout.
Fri
11/9		 Affective fallacy 
Criticism 
Intentional fallacy 
New Criticism 
Final draft of paper #2 due--submitted in a folder with a floppy disk containing the paper as a Word document or "txt" file		 A 4; 
A 49-53; 
A 126-27; 
A 180-82;.
Mon
11/12		 Veteran's Day observed--no classes at WSU  
Wed
11/14		 Objective correlative 
Pathetic fallacy 
Tension 
Quiz #5: in class		 A 197; 
A 203-04; 
A 315-16.
Fri
11/16		 Course review through close analysis 
"The Windhover" 
"Leda and the Swan" 
M889-90; 
M 914.
Mon
11/19		 Question-answer review for final exam 
Course evaluation 
Paper #3 due: diction, rhythm, and  imagery in any assigned sonnet--1000 words minimum--submitted in a folder with a floppy disk containing the paper as a Word document or "txt" file		  
Wed
11/28		 Final exam
1:00-3:00 PM		 Bring a pencil.
Evaluation Second paper preliminary draft on time, long enough  5%
  Exercises and quizzes (drop lowest grade) 20%
  Paper #1 10%
  Paper #2--final draft 15%
  Paper #3 25%
  Attendance 5%
  Final exam 20%
Attendance portion of course grade
 
0-2 absences A
3 absences B
4 absences C
5 absences D
6 absences F
7 absences F for course
Computing Course Grades
Course grades are computed by multiplying weighted percentages times the numerical value of letter grades, using the following equivalents: A = 4.0,  A- = 3.8,  B+ = 3.2, and so on.
Preliminary Draft Credit
The grade for turning in a preliminary draft is either A or F.  To earn the "A" credit for turning in a preliminary draft, your paper must be handed in on time at the beginning of the hour on the due date; it must meet the minimum length requirement; if it uses secondary source material, it must contain complete parenthetical citations and a complete list of works cited; and it must be accompanied by a disk copy in Word or "txt" format.. If it fails to meet any of these requirements (by being, for example, only a few minutes late or only a few words short of the minimum length), it will receive a grade of F.  This deadline policy is designed to reward students merely for meeting basic obligations and to enable me to conduct prompt evaluations.  Once deadlines and minimum criteria have been established, they must be enforced consistently.  If you prefer to waive this 5% credit, you may do so during the first week of class, and these points will be distributed across other requirements at that time.
Attendance
Attendance at every class meeting is required.  If you must miss a class, please do not ask me whether you "missed anything important."  This question implies that on some days, nothing but trivial and unimportant material is presented.  Please do not ask me to go over the material you missed; it is your responsibility to review such material with a classmate.  After seven recorded absences, which may include days that you arrived late but failed to have me correct the attendance record, you will receive an automatic F for the course.  I take attendance at the beginning of the hour. If you arrive late, your attendance will not be recorded unless you see me after class to have me mark you as present. Absences and late arrivals can affect your course grade, particularly in marginal cases.    Also, note that repeated late arrivals will lower your attendance and participation grade; each set of three late arrivals equals  one absence.  If something or someone is frequently going to prevent your arriving on time, you should see me at once and tell me about it.
"Writing Intensive" Component Grades
Two grades are submitted for this course: a grade for the course itself, and a grade for the "writing intensive" component.  The writing intensive grade is "pass" or "fail," and you must attain an average of C or better on the three papers (not counting preliminary draft credit) to receive a "pass.".
Assistance on Papers
I am happy to meet with you individually for assistance, but administrative work may force me to miss office hours occasionally.  Making an appointment a day ahead of time is always advisable.
Fourth Hour
This is a four-credit-hour course which meets for only three hours per week.  The fourth hour will be devoted to guided research and writing.
CLASS POLICIES
1. Papers, at-home exercises, etc. are due at the beginning of the class period on the due dates indicated above; arriving in class even two minutes late will mean zero credit for an exercise or a half-grade reduction for the final draft of a paper.  I will evaluate preliminary drafts submitted after the deadline, but no "preliminary draft credit" will be given for them.  Since late exercises will receive no credit, if you must miss class on a due date, be sure to fax me a copy of your exercise.  (See Class Policy #9, below.)  Late final drafts of the paper will be subject to the following reductions: work turned in after the beginning of class but before the end of office hours on the due date will be penalized 5 points (on a 100-point scale).  For each day or portion of a day thereafter, the penalty will be 10 points per day, with 4:55 PM as the cut-off time (because that is when the secretaries lock up the English office).  If you must turn in a late paper, be sure to have one of the English Department secretaries initial it after recording the date and time.  Do not slip your paper under my door, since it will not be counted as received until I find it there.
2. Papers shorter than the assigned minimum length will receive grade reductions of 5 points for each unit of 100 words by which they fall short..  Please do not try to evade the length requirement by fooling around with large fonts and margins.  A page using proper MLA format should have 1" margins on all sides, 1/3" line spacing, 27 lines to the page (unless over-ridden by widow and orphan control), plus a page header.  Properly formatted MLA templates are available at http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/rptemp.htm.
3. I will not give a make-up quizzes, nor will I reschedule examinations for times other than those specified in the syllabus.
4. Assistance on written work should be limited to the instructor, library reference personnel, and Writing Center personnel.  Automatic penalty for any form of plagiarism (defined as passing off the work of someone else as if it were your own): F for the course, written notification of the English Department Chair and the Wright State University Office of Judicial Affairs.  Your papers for this course must be exclusively your own and exclusively for this course.  You may not submit a previously submitted paper, nor a paper simultaneously submitted for another course. Recommended reading: "Student's Guide to Academic Integrity."
5. I normally do not grant "I" grades, since they usually cause more problems than they solve.  If you miss an assignment, your grade will be computed on the basis of the work you completed, with the missing assignment counted as a zero.
6. A preliminary draft is not a rough draft.  The preliminary draft should represent your best effort; it should be a paper ready to hand in for credit in a regular literature course, even though in this writing intensive course it will receive further revision.  If a preliminary draft is substantially below this standard, you may receive zero "preliminary draft credit" for it.
7. Mid-course changes in the syllabus (assignments, readings, grading policies) are sometimes necessary, though I will always try to provide sufficient advance notice of such changes. If a sudden class cancellation or other change becomes necessary, I will send notification via WSU e-mail, so check your WSU e-mail account regularly.
8. My office is 341 Allyn, telephone 775-2639.  Another convenient way to have individual conferences is via e-mail.  My e-mail address is listed at the top of the syllabus.  I check my account daily.  Note, too, that this syllabus is posted on the Web at http://www.cola.wright.edu/Dept/ENG/maner/Maner.htm.
9. Sending a fax copy to meet a deadline is acceptable. The departmental fax number is 775-2707.  However, it is your responsibility to follow up the fax transmission by calling 775-3136 to confirm that the fax copy was received.  You should always "chase" a fax copy with a regular printed copy as soon as possible, since fax copies are flimsy and often only semi-legible.  Never hand in the only paper copy or disk copy of a paper.  Always make a full disk backup of your work.  Last-minute printer failures, disk crashes, etc. are not valid excuses for late work.
10. You will have accumulated only a few percentage points of graded credit by the time the last drop date arrives. Probably the best way to estimate your likely performance in this course is to ask yourself the following questions:  a) Has the diagnostic exam indicated that I am likely to receive a grade lower than C?  b) Have I attended every class and done every assignment?  c) By the time the last drop date arrives, have I received low grades on the first paper and the first two quizzes?
11. Due to the continuing decline of courtesy among Wright State students, it is necessary to mention some things that should normally go without saying.  a) It is rude to e-mail someone anonymously, using only a screen name.   b) It is rude to leave voice mail messages without identifying yourself.   ("I am a student in your morning class" is not adequate self-identification.)  c) It is rude to bring a beeping watch, or cell phone, or other digital device to class without turning it off first. In the event of an emergency, please ask for permission to leave your cell phone turned on.  d) It is rude to bring a child to class with you, especially if you have not asked for the instructor's permission.
RESOURCES
Online Research Tutorial (in two parts): 
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eval01.htm (Finding and Evaluating Sources) 
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/act06.htm (Gathering Information Online)
Guide to Essential Tools for Research in English Literature:
http://www.cola.wright.edu/Dept/ENG/maner/701lib.htm
MLA Online Guide to Documentation:
http://www.mla.org/  [Click "MLA Style."]
Using Search Engines to Find Web Resources:
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/search_engines.htm
Online Resources for Research Writers:
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/eng344.htm
Links to Resources in Literature and the Humanities:
http://www.cola.wright.edu/Dept/ENG/others.htm
Voices and Visions Spotlight: Elizabeth Bishop [with links to other poets]:
http://www.learner.org/catalog/literature/vvseries/vvspot/Bishop.html
Templates for Research Papers (in MLA Format):
http://www.wright.edu/~martin.maner/rptemp.htm
E-Mail Links:
         Martin Maner
         Charlotte Droll (Humanities Reference Librarian) 
         Martin Jenkins (Humanities Reference Librarian)